hiya21's Personal Name List

Means "bird" in Welsh. This is a modern Welsh name.

Old Irish form of Aodhán.

Means "whirlwind" in Greek. In Greek myth this was the name of an Amazon warrior killed by Herakles during his quest for Hippolyta's girdle.

Irish form of Alice.

Means "radiance, brilliance" in Irish. This was the name of a goddess of love and fertility in Irish legend, thought to dwell at the hill of Cnoc Áine in Limerick. It has sometimes been Anglicized as Anne.

From an English surname that was from a place name: either Annesley in Nottinghamshire or Ansley in Warwickshire. The place names themselves derive from Old English anne "alone, solitary" or ansetl "hermitage" and leah "woodland, clearing".

In America, this name received a boost of popularity in 2000 when a character bearing it began appearing on the television series The West Wing.

Variant of Aisling.

Means "dream" or "vision" in Irish. This name was created in the 20th century.

Variant of Aisling.

Feminine form of Alastar.

Variant of Alaina.

French variant of Alexandra.

Variant of Olivia.

From the Greek Ἀμάλθεια (Amaltheia), derived from μαλθάσσω (malthasso) meaning "to soften, to soothe". In Greek myth she was a nymph (in some sources a goat) who nursed the infant Zeus.

French form of Amarantha.

Feminine form of Anastasius. This was the name of a 4th-century Dalmatian saint who was martyred during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian. Due to her, the name has been common in Eastern Orthodox Christianity (in various spellings). As an English name it has been in use since the Middle Ages. A famous bearer was the youngest daughter of the last Russian tsar Nicholas II, who was rumoured to have escaped the execution of her family in 1918.

Diminutive of Anna.

German diminutive of Anna or short form of Anneliese.

Variant of Aoife, or directly from Irish aoibh meaning "beauty".

From Old Irish Oébfinn or Aíbinn, derived from oíb meaning "beauty, appearance, form" and finn meaning "white, blessed". This was the name of the mother of Saint Énna of Aran. It was also borne by the daughter of the 10th-century Irish high king Donnchad Donn.

Diminutive of Aoibhe.

Means "song" in Greek. In Greek mythology she was one of the original three muses, the muse of song.

From Old Irish Óengus, possibly meaning "one strength" from óen "one" and guss "force, strength". Aonghus (sometimes surnamed Mac Og meaning "young son") was an Irish god of love and youth, one of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He was the son of Dagda and Boann. The name was also borne by an 8th-century Pictish king, several Irish kings, and a few saints, including a 9th-century bishop of Tallaght.

French form of Apollonia.

Variant of Arianrhod.

Probably means "silver wheel" from Welsh arian "silver" and rhod "wheel". According to the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi [1], Arianrhod was the mother of the twins Dylan and Lleu Llaw Gyffes, whom she spontaneously birthed when she stepped over a magical wand. It is speculated that in earlier myths she may have been a goddess of the moon.

Variant of Ariana.

French feminine form of Aurelius.

From the name of the island paradise to which King Arthur was brought after his death. The name of this island is perhaps related to Welsh afal meaning "apple", a fruit that was often linked with paradise.

From the Norman French form of the Germanic name Avelina, a diminutive of Avila. The Normans introduced this name to Britain. After the Middle Ages it became rare as an English name, though it persisted in America until the 19th century [1].

This name was assumed by Ayn Rand (1905-1982), originally named Alice Rosenbaum, a Russian-American writer and philosopher. She apparently based it on a Finnish name she had heard, but never seen written.

Probably from Viatrix, a feminine form of the Late Latin name Viator meaning "voyager, traveller". It was a common name amongst early Christians, and the spelling was altered by association with Latin beatus "blessed, happy". Viatrix or Beatrix was a 4th-century saint who was strangled to death during the persecutions of Diocletian.

In England the name became rare after the Middle Ages, but it was revived in the 19th century, more commonly in the spelling Beatrice. Famous bearers include the British author and illustrator Beatrix Potter (1866-1943), the creator of Peter Rabbit, and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (1938-).

Modern form of Bébinn.

Short form of Isabella or names ending in belle. It is also associated with the French word belle meaning "beautiful". A famous bearer was Belle Starr (1848-1889), an outlaw of the American west, whose real given name was Maybelle.

Derived from Brythonic boud meaning "victory" [1]. This was the name of a 1st-century queen of the Iceni who led the Britons in revolt against the Romans. Eventually her forces were defeated and she committed suicide. Her name is first recorded in Roman histories, as Boudicca by Tacitus [2] and Βουδουῖκα (Boudouika) by Cassius Dio [3].

Means "white raven" from Old Welsh bran "raven" and gwen "white, blessed". According to the Second Branch of the Mabinogi [1] she was the daughter of Llŷr. After she was mistreated by her husband Matholwch, the king of Ireland, she managed to get a message to her brother Brân, the king of Britain. Brân launched a costly invasion to rescue her, but she died of grief shortly after her return.

Anglicized form of the Irish name Brighid, Old Irish Brigit, from old Celtic *Brigantī meaning "the exalted one". In Irish mythology this was the name of the goddess of fire, poetry and wisdom, the daughter of the god Dagda. In the 5th century it was borne by Saint Brigid, the founder of a monastery at Kildare and a patron saint of Ireland. Because of the saint, the name was considered sacred in Ireland, and it did not come into general use there until the 17th century. In the form Birgitta this name has been common in Scandinavia, made popular by the 14th-century Saint Birgitta of Sweden, patron saint of Europe.

Irish form of Cateline, the Old French form of Katherine.

Possibly a form of Caitríona.

Irish form of Katherine.

From the name of the flowering shrub, which was named for the botanist and missionary Georg Josef Kamel.

Feminine form of Camillus. This was the name of a legendary warrior maiden of the Volsci, as told by Virgil in the Aeneid. It was popularized in the English-speaking world by Fanny Burney's novel Camilla (1796).

Derived from Irish caomh meaning "dear, beloved, gentle".

Spanish diminutive of Carmel.

From the Greek name Κασσάνδρα (Kassandra), possibly derived from κέκασμαι (kekasmai) meaning "to excel, to shine" and ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive ἀνδρός). In Greek myth Cassandra was a Trojan princess, the daughter of Priam and Hecuba. She was given the gift of prophecy by Apollo, but when she spurned his advances he cursed her so nobody would believe her prophecies.

In the Middle Ages this name was common in England due to the popularity of medieval tales about the Trojan War. It subsequently became rare, but was revived in the 20th century.

Means "fair-haired", from Old Irish ciab "locks, hair" and finn "white, blessed". In Irish legend this was the name of one of the three daughters of Bec mac Buain [1][2].

Derived from Welsh cain "good, lovely" and gwen "white, blessed". This was the name of a 5th-century Welsh saint also known as Cain or Keyne.

Meaning uncertain. It could come from the name of the Ceri River in Ceredigion, Wales; it could be a short form of Ceridwen; it could be derived from Welsh caru meaning "to love".

Possibly from cyrrid "bent, crooked" (a derivative of Old Welsh cwrr "corner") combined with ben "woman" or gwen "white, blessed". According to the medieval Welsh legend the Tale of Taliesin (recorded by Elis Gruffyd in the 16th century) this was the name of a sorceress who created a potion that would grant wisdom to her son Morfan. The potion was instead consumed by her servant Gwion Bach, who was subsequently reborn as the renowned bard Taliesin.

This name appears briefly in a poem in the Black Book of Carmarthen in the form Kyrridven [1] and in a poem in the Book of Taliesin in the form Kerrituen [2]. Some theories connect her to an otherwise unattested Celtic goddess of inspiration, and suppose her name is related to Welsh cerdd "poetry".

Italian form of Cloelia.

French feminine form of Clement. This is also the name of a variety of orange (fruit).

Meaning unknown. In Irish legend this was the name of a beautiful goddess. She fell in love with a mortal named Ciabhán and left the Land of Promise with him, but when she arrived on the other shore she was swept to sea by a great wave.

Variant of Clíodhna.

Romanian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Corinna, as well as a German variant.

Feminine form of Cornelius. In the 2nd century BC it was borne by Cornelia Scipionis Africana (the daughter of the military hero Scipio Africanus), the mother of the two reformers known as the Gracchi. After her death she was regarded as an example of the ideal Roman woman. The name was revived in the 18th century.

Feminine form of Cosmin.

Possibly derived from Dáire. This was the name of the daughter of the legendary Irish king Túathal Techtmar.

Anglicized form of Dáirine.

From Old Irish Derbáil meaning "daughter of Fál", derived from the prefix der meaning "daughter" and Fál, a legendary name for Ireland.

Means "divine, goddesslike", a derivative of Latin dia or diva meaning "goddess". It is ultimately related to the same Indo-European root *dyew- found in Zeus. Diana was a Roman goddess of the moon, hunting, forests and childbirth, often identified with the Greek goddess Artemis.

As a given name, Diana has been regularly used since the Renaissance. It became more common in the English-speaking world following Walter Scott's novel Rob Roy (1817), which featured a character named Diana Vernon. It also appeared in George Meredith's novel Diana of the Crossways (1885). A notable bearer was the British royal Diana Spencer (1961-1997), the Princess of Wales.

Variant of Dilys.

Irish form of Eve.

Irish form of Aveline.

Irish Gaelic form of Elizabeth (or sometimes of Alice).

Means "snow" in Welsh. This is a recently created name.

From Éireann, the genitive case of Irish Gaelic Éire, meaning "Ireland". It is commonly Anglicized as Erin.

Means "snowdrop (flower)" in Welsh, a compound of eira "snow" and llys "plant".

Possibly from Old Irish etne meaning "kernel, grain". In Irish mythology Eithne or Ethniu was a Fomorian and the mother of Lugh Lámfada. It was borne by several other legendary and historical figures, including a few early saints.

Short form of Eleanor. This was also the name of an ancient Italian town (modern Velia) that is well known for being the home of the philosopher Parmenides and his student Zeno of Elea, who was famous for his paradoxes.

From the Old French form of the Occitan name Alienòr. Among the name's earliest bearers was the influential Eleanor of Aquitaine (12th century), who was the queen of Louis VII, the king of France, and later Henry II, the king of England. She was named Aenor after her mother, and was called by the Occitan phrase alia Aenor "the other Aenor" in order to distinguish her from her mother. However, there appear to be examples of bearers prior to Eleanor of Aquitaine. It is not clear whether they were in fact Aenors who were retroactively recorded as having the name Eleanor, or whether there is an alternative explanation for the name's origin.

The popularity of the name Eleanor in England during the Middle Ages was due to the fame of Eleanor of Aquitaine, as well as two queens of the following century: Eleanor of Provence, the wife of Henry III, and Eleanor of Castile, the wife of Edward I. More recently, it was borne by first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), the wife of American president Franklin Roosevelt.

From the name of a Welsh river, also called the Leri, of unknown meaning. This was also the name of a 7th-century Welsh saint (masculine).

Variant of Elisa.

Norman name, originally a short form of Germanic names containing the element alles meaning "other" (Proto-Germanic *aljaz). It was introduced to England by the Normans and used until the 14th century, and it was later revived in the 19th century. A famous bearer was the American singer Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996).

Scottish form of Elizabeth.

Scottish form of Elizabeth.

Anglicized form of Ailbhe.

Irish form of Iohannes (see John) used in the Bible.

Welsh form of Iseult.

Variant of Eithne.

Means "delight" in Greek, ultimately from εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and τέρπω (terpo) meaning "to satisfy, to cheer". In Greek mythology she was one of the nine Muses, the muse of music and joy. She was said to have invented the double flute.

Latinate form of Evangeline.

Means "good news" from Greek εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and ἄγγελμα (angelma) meaning "news, message". It was (first?) used by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his 1847 epic poem Evangeline [1][2]. It also appears in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) as the full name of the character Eva.

Latinized form of Fedelm.

Anglicized form of Fionnuala.

Derived from Irish fíon meaning "wine".

From the Old Irish name Finn, derived from finn meaning "white, blessed". It occurs frequently in Irish history and legends, the most noteworthy bearer being Fionn mac Cumhaill, the central character of one of the four main cycles of Irish mythology, the Fenian Cycle. Fionn was born as Deimne, and acquired his nickname because of his fair hair. He grew all-wise by eating an enchanted salmon, and later became the leader of the Fianna after defeating the fire-breathing demon Áillen. He was the father of Oisín and grandfather of Oscar.

Italian form of Guinevere. This is also the Italian name for the city of Geneva, Switzerland. It is also sometimes associated with the Italian word ginepro meaning "juniper".

Variant of Giselle.

From the Norman French form of the Welsh name Gwenhwyfar meaning "white phantom", ultimately from the old Celtic roots *windos meaning "white" (modern Welsh gwen) and *sēbros meaning "phantom, magical being" [1]. In Arthurian legend she was the beautiful wife of King Arthur. According to the 12th-century chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth, she was seduced by Mordred before the battle of Camlann, which led to the deaths of both Mordred and Arthur. According to the 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes, she engaged in an adulterous affair with Sir Lancelot.

The Cornish form of this name, Jennifer, has become popular in the English-speaking world.

Feminine form of Gwenaël.

Variant of Gwendolen.

Variant of Gwendolen. This is the usual spelling in the United States.

Variant of Gwyneth, influenced by the Welsh word gwenith meaning "wheat".

Means "white snow" from the Welsh element gwyn meaning "white, blessed" combined with eira meaning "snow". This is a recently created Welsh name.

Probably a variant of Gwynedd. It has been common in Wales since the 19th century, perhaps after the Welsh novelist Gwyneth Vaughan (1852-1910), whose real name was Ann Harriet Hughes. A modern famous bearer is the American actress Gwyneth Paltrow (1972-).

Derived from the name of the Greek messenger god Hermes. In Greek myth Hermione was the daughter of Menelaus and Helen. This is also the name of the wife of Leontes in Shakespeare's play The Winter's Tale (1610). It is now closely associated with the character Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series of books, first released in 1997.

Derived from Greek ἥρως (heros) meaning "hero". In Greek legend she was the lover of Leander, who would swim across the Hellespont each night to meet her. He was killed on one such occasion when he got caught in a storm while in the water, and when Hero saw his dead body she drowned herself. This is also the name of a character in Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing (1599).

From Old Irish Íte, possibly derived from ítu meaning "thirst". This was the name of a 6th-century Irish nun, the patron saint of Killeedy.

Hungarian diminutive of Ilona.

German and Dutch diminutive of Elisabeth, used independently.

German masculine form of Inge.

From the Old Norse name Ingríðr meaning "Ing is beautiful", derived from the name of the Germanic god Ing combined with fríðr "beautiful, beloved". A famous bearer was the Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982).

Variant of Islay, typically used as a feminine name. It also coincides with the Spanish word isla meaning "island".

Anglicized form of Iseabail.

German form of Iseult, appearing in the 13th-century German poem Tristan by Gottfried von Strassburg. In 1865 the German composer Richard Wagner debuted his popular opera Tristan und Isolde and also used the name for his first daughter.

Feminine form of James.

French feminine form of Joseph. A notable bearer of this name was the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763-1814).

Diminutive of Joséphine.

Feminine form of Iulianus (see Julian).

Variant of Katherine.

Anglicized form of Caitlín.

Original Latin form of Letitia, as well as a French variant. This name began rising in popularity in France around the same time that Serge Gainsbourg released his 1963 song Elaeudanla Téïtéïa (this title is a phonetic rendering of the letters in the name Lætitia). It peaked in 1982 as the fourth most common name for girls.

Possibly a combination of Leah and Beatrice. This name was first brought to public attention by the American actress Leatrice Joy (1893-1985).

Irish form of Lily.

Form of Lillian found in Scotland from about the 16th century [1].

Diminutive of Elizabeth.

Short form of Lillian or an elaborated form of Lily.

Possibly from the patronymic Manannán mac Lir, in which case Lir is the genitive case of the name Ler. The medieval Irish legend the Children of Lir tells how Lir of the Tuatha Dé Danann had his children transformed into swans by his third wife Aoife. The legendary characters Lir and Ler seem to be distinct.

Diminutive of Olivia.

Means "the moon" in Latin (as well as Italian, Spanish and other Romance languages). Luna was the Roman goddess of the moon, frequently depicted driving a white chariot through the sky.

Irish form of Magdalene.

Combination of Mair and Welsh gwen meaning "white, blessed".

Either a diminutive of Mary or a variant of Miranda.

Modern Irish form of Medb (see Maeve).

Original Irish form of Maeve.

Means "practice, exercise" in Greek. In Greek mythology she was one of the original three muses, the muse of meditation.

Derived from Greek μέλπω (melpo) meaning "to sing, to celebrate with song". This was the name of one of the nine Muses in Greek mythology, the muse of tragedy.

Means "pearl, gem" in Welsh, derived from Latin margarita.

Anglicized form of a Mhàiri, the vocative case of Màiri.

Means "memory" in Greek. In Greek mythology she was one of the original three muses, the muse of memory.

Means "great" in Irish. This was a popular medieval Irish name. It was probably given in some cases as an alternative to Máire, which was considered too sacred for general use.

Variant of Morgan 2, from a French form.

French, either a form of Morgan 2 or a feminine form of Morgan 1.

From Old Cornish moroin meaning "maiden, girl" (related to the Welsh word morwyn [1]). This was the name of a 6th-century Cornish saint, said to be one of the daughters of Brychan Brycheiniog.

Variant of Mona 1.

Variant of Moira.

Variant of Muirenn.

Modern form of Muirgel.

From the Welsh prefix my- meaning "my, belonging to me" (an older form of fy) combined with either manwy meaning "fine, delicate" or banwy meaning "woman" (a variant of banw). This was the name of an 1875 Welsh song composed by Joseph Parry.

Anglicized form of Neasa.

Medieval Welsh diminutive of Agnes.

Means "bright" in Irish. She was the daughter of the sea god Manannán mac Lir in Irish legends. She fell in love with the poet Oisín, the son of Fionn mac Cumhaill. It has been used as a given name for people only since the early 20th century.

Meaning unknown. In Arthurian legends this is the name of a sorceress, also known as the Lady of the Lake, Vivien, or Niniane. Various versions of the tales have Merlin falling in love with her and becoming imprisoned by her magic. She first appears in the medieval French Lancelot-Grail Cycle.

Derived from odar "dun-coloured, greyish brown, tan" combined with a diminutive suffix. This was the name of an early Irish saint.

Feminine form of Oliver. This was the name of the title character in the French opera Les noces d'Olivette (1879) by Edmond Audran.

Irish form of Honora.

Medieval variant of Meggy, a diminutive of Margaret. The reason for the change in the initial consonant is unknown.

Meaning unknown, probably of Pre-Greek origin, but perhaps related to Greek πέρθω (pertho) meaning "to destroy" and φόνος (phonos) meaning "murder". In Greek myth she was the daughter of Demeter and Zeus. She was abducted to the underworld by Hades, but was eventually allowed to return to the surface for part of the year. The result of her comings and goings is the changing of the seasons. With her mother she was worshipped in the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were secret rites practiced at the city of Eleusis near Athens.

Feminine form of Peter. This was also the name of an ancient city in the region that is now Jordan.

Diminutive of Euphemia.

Latinized form of the Greek name Φοίβη (Phoibe), which meant "bright, pure" from Greek φοῖβος (phoibos). In Greek mythology Phoibe was a Titan associated with the moon. This was also an epithet of her granddaughter, the moon goddess Artemis. The name appears in Paul's epistle to the Romans in the New Testament, where it belongs to a female minister in the church at Cenchreae.

In England, it began to be used as a given name after the Protestant Reformation. It was moderately common in the 19th century. It began to rise in popularity again in the late 1980s, probably helped along by characters on the American television shows Friends (1994-2004) and Charmed (1998-2006). It is currently much more common in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand than the United States.

A moon of Saturn bears this name, in honour of the Titan.

From the word for the red flower, derived from Old English popæg.

Diminutive of Josephine. It can also be inspired by the English word posy for a bunch of flowers.

Irish form of Rachel.

Probably derived from an unattested Celtic name *Rīgantonā meaning "great queen" (Celtic *rīganī "queen" and the divine or augmentative suffix -on). It is speculated that Rigantona was an old Celtic goddess, perhaps associated with fertility and horses like the Gaulish Epona. As Rhiannon, she appears in Welsh legend in the Mabinogi [1] as a beautiful magical woman who rides a white horse. She was betrothed against her will to Gwawl, but cunningly broke off that engagement and married Pwyll instead. Their son was Pryderi.

As an English name, it became popular due to the Fleetwood Mac song Rhiannon (1976), especially in the United Kingdom and Australia.

Variant of Rhiannon.

Diminutive of Róis or the Irish word rós meaning "rose" (of Latin origin). It appears in the 17th-century song Róisín Dubh.

Latinized form of Habren, the original Welsh name of the River Severn. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Sabrina was the name of a princess who was drowned in the Severn. Supposedly the river was named for her, but it is more likely that her name was actually derived from that of the river, which is of unknown meaning. She appears as a water nymph in John Milton's masque Comus (1634).

The name was brought to public attention by Samuel A. Taylor's play Sabrina Fair (1953) and the movie adaptation Sabrina that followed it the next year. This is also the name of a comic book character, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, first introduced 1962 and with television adaptations in 1970-1974 and 1996-2003, both causing minor jumps in popularity. Another jump occurred in 1976, when it was used for a main character on the television series Charlie's Angels.

Means "freedom" in Irish Gaelic. It was first used as a given name in the 20th century.

From an English surname that denoted a person who sold or made clothes made of scarlet (a kind of cloth, possibly derived from Persian سقرلاط (saqrelat)). Margaret Mitchell used it for the main character, Scarlett O'Hara, in her novel Gone with the Wind (1936). Her name is explained as having come from her grandmother. Despite the fact that the book was adapted into a popular movie in 1939, the name was not common until the 21st century. It started rising around 2003, about the time that the career of American actress Scarlett Johansson (1984-) started taking off.

French feminine form of Sebastianus (see Sebastian).

Meaning unknown. This is the name of the Inuit goddess of the sea, sea animals and the underworld. According to some legends Sedna was originally a beautiful woman thrown into the ocean by her father. A dwarf planet in the outer solar system was named for her in 2004.

Means "moon" in Greek. This was the name of a Greek goddess of the moon, a Titan. She was sometimes identified with the goddess Artemis.

Partially Anglicized form of Seònaid or Seonag.

Variant of Serena.

From the name of the River Shannon, the longest river in Ireland, called an tSionainn in Irish. It is associated with the legendary figure Sionann and is sometimes said to be named for her. However it is more likely she was named after the river, which may be related to Old Irish sen "old, ancient" [1]. As a given name, it first became common in America after the 1940s.

Variant of Shona.

Anglicized form of Seonag or Seònaid. Though unconnected, this is also the name of an ethnic group who live in Southern Africa, mainly Zimbabwe.

Means "elf, sprite" in Irish. This name was created in the 20th century.

Means "star" in Latin. This name was created by the 16th-century poet Philip Sidney for the subject of his collection of sonnets Astrophel and Stella. It was a nickname of a lover of Jonathan Swift, real name Esther Johnson (1681-1728), though it was not commonly used as a given name until the 19th century. It appears in Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), belonging to the sister of Blanche DuBois and the wife of Stanley Kowalski.

Anglicized form of the Irish place name Teamhair, which possibly means "elevated place". This was the name of the sacred hill near Dublin where the Irish high kings resided. It was popularized as a given name by the novel Gone with the Wind (1936) and the subsequent movie adaptation (1939), in which it is the name of the O'Hara plantation.

From the English word meaning "storm". It appears in the title of William Shakespeare's play The Tempest (1611).

Means "warmth" in Welsh.

Short form of Antoinette.

Means "king over warriors" from Gaulish wer "on, over" combined with kingeto "marching men, warriors" and rix "king". This name was borne by a 1st-century BC chieftain of the Gaulish tribe the Arverni. He led the resistance against Julius Caesar's attempts to conquer Gaul, but he was eventually defeated, brought to Rome, and executed.

From the Latin name Vivianus, which was derived from Latin vivus "alive". Saint Vivian was a French bishop who provided protection during the Visigoth invasion of the 5th century. It has been occasionally used as an English (masculine) name since the Middle Ages. In modern times it is also used as a feminine name, in which case it is either an Anglicized form of Bébinn or a variant of Vivien 2.

From the English word for the small songbird. It is ultimately derived from Old English wrenna.

Means "life" in Greek. From early times it was adopted by Hellenized Jews as a translation of Eve. It was borne by two early Christian saints, one martyred under Emperor Hadrian, the other martyred under Diocletian. The name was common in the Byzantine Empire, being borne by a ruling empress of the 11th century.

As an English name, Zoe (sometimes with a diaeresis as Zoë) has only been in use since the 19th century. It has generally been more common among Eastern Christians (in various spellings).